Graceful Creatures
by suallenparker
Summary: Henry comes into the pawn shop and Gold misses the obvious so Belle has to save the day.


**NOTES: **This is for **temporalteatime**, she prompted "Belle saves Henry". I'm sorry I couldn't write you something that took your prompt more literally but I suck at writing action or medicine!fiction, so you get humor and people failing at everyday life. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks to lily moonlight for betaing this for me!

o0o

"_Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love!" – Love, Actually_

o0o

Henry was behaving strangely. Gold was used to Henry visiting him. And Gold liked Henry, really. He was one of the few people that came into the pawn shop without wanting money or power from him. Usually Henry came to browse through all the things on display in the shop, always looking for something magical. Today was different. Instead of touching everything and asking a ton of questions, Henry just stood near the window, fiddling with his hands and breathing heavily. He had entered the shop five minutes ago and so far he didn't even seem to notice, that he wasn't alone, although Belle and Gold had been sitting just behind the counter for everybody to see, when Henry had come in. They had enjoyed their quiet afternoon together, he had done some paperwork while Belle had sat next to him, reading her book. It had been peaceful and quiet and normal. But now Henry was ruining it!

So Gold put down his paperwork and grabbed his cane. "Do you need something?" he asked while he hobbled towards the intruder.

Startled, Henry looked at him. "Uhm …?"

Henry looked a little rushed, Gold noticed. The boy's hands were all sweaty. Was he sick? Gold glanced at Belle who had stood up too, then he focused on Henry again. "Are you alright, Henry?"

"Uhm …" the boy stuttered.

"What's wrong? Normally you're much more eloquent."

"Er …" Henry said.

Gold was getting worried. The boy looked pale.

By now Belle had caught up and placed her hand on Gold's arm. He loved that she touched him so freely. Loved it. It made everything better.

"It's about a girl," she said.

Gold turned to his beauty. "A girl?"

"One of those graceful creatures that make life worth living?" Belle chuckled and ran her hand over his arm.

That graceful creature right next to him had definitely increased his life quality. If Henry wasn't here, he would steal a kiss from her right now. But Henry was here, so Gold had to deal with him. "Did you really come here to talk to me about a girl, Henry?"

Henry's pale skin went to a deep red blush in seconds. "No disrespect, but you're not really someone to give advice on girls," he said, pulling up his shoulders.

"Excuse me?" Gold squinted at him. "See that beautiful woman beside me? That's my girlfriend."

Of course that beautiful woman beside him was smothering a laugh.

"Because I basically hunted him down and claimed him," Belle said to Henry with a smirk.

Henry nodded. "And you asked my grandpa for relationship advice," he said and looked at Gold with puppy dog eyes.

How dare he look so adorable while simultaneously stabbing him in the back? Gold glared at him. "No, I didn't."

Belle chuckled again. "Yes, you did." She shrugged. "I thought it was cute."

Gold sighed. "Does everybody know that?"

"Charming told Emma and Snow," Belle listed. "Snow told Ruby and Ruby told everybody else over a cup of morning coffee."

"Brilliant," Gold mumbled. Did they have to take all his dignity? But then Belle squeezed his arm and he felt a little better.

"You should just talk to Grace, Henry," she said.

Henry looked at her with big eyes. "How did you know it's Grace?"

Gold was wondering the same.

Belle smiled. "Because you're staring at her eating her hamburger in Granny's diner. That's what brought you into the pawn shop, isn't it? The view?"

For a moment all three of them stared out the window and into Granny's Diner. And there she was. Grace sat at one of the window tables, eating a hamburger and sipping on a strawberry milkshake.

Henry's blush deepened and he gave Belle a lopsided smile. "Yes."

"Just say hi?" Belle suggested.

Henry pulled his shoulders up and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I'll just embarrass myself."

"You don't know that," Belle said, shaking her head. "Maybe she's just as shy as you and wants you to talk to her. Staring at her from afar won't solve anything," she added and gave Gold a side glance.

"Don't make this about me," he said sternly.

Belle raised a brow. "If the shoe fits …" But there was no sting to her mockery, just a warm smile and a pat on his arm. She focused on Henry again., "If you really like her, you should give it a try. Love's worth it."

"But what if she rejects me?" Henry asked, looking down to the floor.

With one finger under his chin, Belle made Henry look up again. "But what if you try and she likes you too?" she asked in return. "You can't allow fear to stop you from going after what you want."

Henry sighed heavily, then he gestured at Gold. "Did you really hunt him down and claim him?"

"There was no hunting," Gold corrected him sternly. "I'm no deer."

Belle smirked. "But I made the first move."

"That's not true either," Gold mumbled.

Of course the love of his life chose to ignore him. "I said I love you first, I initiated our first kiss," she told Henry.

"And before that I asked you to move in with me," Gold added mindlessly. "Technically I made the first move."

Belle raised a brow. "You really want to go there?"

… and tell Henry about the time he made that deal with Belle to enslave her so he would save her land from the orkes? Better not.

So Gold bit his tongue and glared at Belle.

"Thought so," Belle said and gave him a look that told him not to pout and shot him a smile that reassured him of her love.

Henry was staring at Grace again. "But weren't you scared?"

"I was." Belle said and squeezed Gold's arm again. "But Rumplestiltskin was too good to give up on, you know?"

Henry sighed, still looking at Grace. "Yeah."

Yeah … For Gold it had always been different. For him Belle had been that person he had to give up on because she was too good. He loved her, he truly loved her and that she could feel the same was still something he needed to adjust to.

Belle gave Henry a little push. "Then go, be brave and say hi to Grace."

"Okay." Henry sighed again, but he pulled his fists out of his pockets and walked towards the exit. He was almost out of the door, when he turned around again. "Thanks, Belle."

"You're welcome," she said and leaned against Gold, just lightly, just enough to make him feel her body pressing into his. She never leaned into him with her weight, always careful of his leg, always considerate.

He put his free arm around her and pulled her even closer. "Thank you," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"For what?"

"For not giving up on me."

Her face lightened up. "You're welcome too."

THE END


End file.
